BEYOND THE DEAD ZONE | COMPLETE

Two |

Two |

I kept my pace slow, as if it was a normal day in the life of an islander. Ben and Idris trailed behind me chatting lowly about Idris's travels. I tuned in and out, my attention more focused on the people around us. We'd get smiles and waves—I was Eero Brooks after all. I didn't want to seem too suspicious, anyone of these people would happily run to mom if it meant getting in her good books.

"Tom said we can visit Wolf Sanction on the way back," Idris said happily, "I'm excited to see Valen, it's been too long. I can't wait to see how much Flash has grown!"

I smiled at that. Wolf Sanction had the largest ally animal force beside us. But, we only had birds as our animal force—Felix had dire wolves. I'd take dire wolves over pigeons any day but we were stuck on an island and they had the entire forest to roam. Valen was sure lucky to have gotten one of the wolves as a pet.

"You think Tom will let me get a pet?" he asked.

I laughed at that, "I think a dire wolf would give him a heart attack."

"Eero," Ben scolded with a frown.

I stuck my tongue out at him. We reached the large garage in no time, the old trailer in it's spot at the back of the property just as she left it. I stopped walking for a moment. A memory flashed in my mind—the last time she was at the trailer mom had a break down. It was just after the incident, and mom went berserk, trying to burn it down. It was scary, I had never seen dad so frantic and I've never seen mom so...weak. It ended with her locking the trailer away and never going back to it. I always wondered why she stopped visiting it, now we would know.

"It's not too late to turn back," Ben said slowly.

I looked over at him, "Aren't you tried of being kept in the dark?"

"No," he replied coolly, "I trust the alliance."

My eyes rolled, "Maybe if your parents continued to lie and keep secrets from you then you'd know how I felt. Don't you want to know why they died?"

His face darkened, "No."

I could feel my words snarl, "Well I do, I want to know why my fucking sister—" 

"—Um guys, we're getting a bit loud," Idris whispered quickly.

We both turned to him, noticing a few sparse glances towards us. I inhaled slowly, pushing the flex of emotions from inside me away and focused on my current goal. Turning on my heels, I moved towards the trailer. Idris and Ben followed me, and as we reached the rusted metal steps of the trailer I tried the door. The clear padlock on the front jingling.

I grinned towards Ben, "Wow jeez, I wish there was a strong man who could break a lock with his strong muscles. I am but a weak and feeble woman in need of help."

He rolled his eyes, as I moved out of the way. He bounced on his heels for a moment before spinning and kicking the lock with the heel of his foot. My eyes widened in surprise, but I knew I shouldn't have been. Ben was trained in both close combat and in guns by his mom, not to mention his extensive training by his dad about survival.

"Fancy," I muttered as the lock fell away.

He smirked, "For the weak and feeble woman."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. I moved past him, throwing open the trailer's door before stepping inside. Instantly, dust tickled my nose and I coughed. The air was thick in here, stale and hot. The metal trailer must had been collecting heat and dust for the past four years. I looked back at Idris before raising my hand.

"Stay out here, it'll be hard to breath," I told him.

He smiled slightly, "Ok."

I moved into the trailer, my eyes squinting as I willed them to get used to the darkness. Inside the trailer I froze, boxes everywhere, and papers. Books, journals. It looked like my mom collected everything for years and years. I moved to one box, picking up a faded brown leather journal, flipping through it.